Continuing to discuss the consequences of violence, he referred to George Bush's handling of 9/11, stating: "After 9/11 I expressed my condolences in a letter to President Bush and told him the way to solve this problem was through non-violence.

"I know his motives were good but he used force and it created unexpected consequences."

The Dalai Lama is currently in exile from his home country of Tibet and has been since 1959. He was forced to flee after the Chinese adopted brutal repressive measures against the leader and the country's Buddhist beliefs.

The Chinese government has since said it will designate the next Dalai Lama, rather than the figurehead being chosen through the traditional method where Buddhist monks identify their reincarnated spiritual leader after his death.

Although earlier this year the spiritual leader stated he might be the last Dalai Lama, rather than being reincarnated in line with Tibetan Buddhists beliefs.